Steal Me Away
by MewSara100
Summary: Momomiya Ichigo steals from thieves and returns the bounty to their owners. Tokohiro Kishu is the leading detective, trying to bring her down. Can trouble arise and force them together, unsuspecting? How will Kishu react? Rewrite of another story. RxR !
1. Chapter 1

The stale air of the museum filled her nose as she ran through the shadows, ducking behind multiple showcases in order to evade the beam of light that cut through the darkness of the building. Tucking the painting further under her arm, she made sure she had a firm hold of it before lurking closer to the window she's come in from. The guards were only feet away, but had yet to see her, which meant she had to wait for them to leave before attempting her own escape. 'I can't screw this up. I let him see me last night, but tonight will be different, like a challenge!' she thought smugly, watching the slightly pudgy guard shrug and turn away again, taking the near blinding flashlight with him.

The police had been lucky in guessing her patterns and techniques, pinpoint the museum she currently hid inside. They were trying to be as inconspicuous as possible, but she knew they were there, that HE was there. They, however, weren't sure if she was there or not. They were slow to send the guards coming through the museum, but the idiots still left the lights off. The only way SHE knew where she was going was because of the dim yellow running lights on the path the visitors took, as well as the dim light of evening through the museum window. She stood up from behind the display, wiping the nervous sweat from her brow. She had to be extra careful and use new tactics to mix up her patterns, which was proving to be more difficult than she'd originally thought.

She stood now, blending into the blackness. Her petite build was cloaked in black itself, from her turtleneck with sleeves that left her shoulders bare; to her clothe black pants and sturdy black boots. Her crimson hair barely protruded from the black ski-cap she wore, and her pale face was easily hidden with black face paint across her cheeks. She wasn't stupid, she wore her black gloves, and on her belt was attached a variety of useful lock-picking tools. She'd come ready; ready, that is, until the light suddenly flickered on and she was brought into full view, almost blinded by the lights. She'd forgotten about the simplest of things, the light switch. She'd not turned off the generator. 'Damn it! Now it'll take some quick thinking.' She rolled her eyes and turned slowly on her heel to face the rooms only other occupant.

"Tokohiro Kishu of the Tokyo Police Department, don't move!" She saw how steadily he held the black hand-gun, how his fingers didn't tremble or shake, and it brought a flash of pure amusement to her eyes. "I knew we'd meet again, Shadow Thief. I put a lot of time and effort into tracking you here." His golden eyes were just as steady behind the veil of forest green hair, and his own fair skin glowed with the excitement he must have felt at cornering his quarry. "We can make this easy, or I can use brute force. It's your choice, you know."

"That's MISS Shadow Thief to YOU sir." Her wicked smirk filled her face with amusement and she used the back of her free gloved hand to wipe away the smudges of paint from her face, leaving it clear. "Take a good look, officer. This might be the last you see of me, up close." She still held the priceless painting close, and began to step backwards, towards the window. "Just let me put down this heavy painting and I'll come quietly…"

Kishu didn't believe her words for a minute and raised his firearm. "I'm not taking you out of my sights. Hand the painting to me and we'll go down to the station." He raised his free hand for the painting and still the gun in his other hand was yet to shake. His golden eyes were steady on her and he smirked, just as wickedly. "You'll play by my rules this time, MISS Shadow Thief."

She was taken aback by the power in his voice and let it show, keeping the expression there long enough to let him think he'd shaken her. She began moving forward, one slow step after another, and stopped when she was close enough for him to lower the gun, thinking he'd won. And, once he had placed the item back into its place on his belt, she swung her leg out, knocked him off his feet and onto his back, slipped the gun from his holster, and clipped it to her own belt. She'd never let go of the painting and smirked down at him. "I love a man with manners. See you around, Mister Detective." She was gone out of the window before he could speak and made her way up the side of the building in the dark, until she reached the rooftop.

**!ICHIGO!**

Once sure she'd not been followed or seen by anyone, she slipped the canvas into the black bag on her back and sealed the container tight before making her way through the shadows, to the loft apartment she called home. "That was just too easy. He's gotten soft, thinking he can catch me easily. He's a sap, that's all." She'd slipped through the window, peeling off the bag and tossing it onto her bed.

"Here, please shower and change, Ichigo…" She turned to see Retasu standing by the window, a pile of folded clothes in her arms. "Did you retrieve the stolen art work?" She smiled as she asked and tipped her glasses further onto her small shy face. Her jade green hair was pulled into a low braid down her back, and her soft blue-grey eyes shone with excitement. She was just as much a part of the business Ichigo ran, as Ichigo was herself, she had to remember. "Did you get caught?"

She shook her head, taking the clothes from her close friend. "Yes, I got the item we were looking for. And, as for getting caught; yes, I got into a bit of a stand-off with Kishu, but I managed to slip away without a trace. I'm thinking I might keep his gun for a trophy." She patted the firearm at her hip and grinned.

Retasu had been her friend, her sister, for almost her entire life. They'd met in grade school, gone to high school together, and shared a spacious loft. She was a smart, sweet, and very shy girl, compared to Ichigo, who easily became angry and wasn't afraid of talking one bit. Her green haired friend helped her to research, hack, and disable anything she needed, or helped her plot her next heist.

"Ichigo, you shouldn't fool around with that detective! Something's off about him, how cunning he is. He and his partners, Pai and Taruto, are very quick. I don't think we should get involved more than we have to." She was the cautious one, Ichigo reminded herself, watching the worried expression flit across Retasu's face.

"We aren't breaking the law that badly, though. We steal from thieves and give the items back to the original owners. And trust me; I left the gem at the police station earlier, with a note and photo proof explaining how it had originally gone missing, who rightfully owned it, and where I'd taken it from. The thief should be in a cage by now, I'd say. I'll do the same with this painting. That's why it was secured in another room. The building's owner didn't want anyone knowing he'd stolen it from its owner."

She shrugged and stepped into the bathroom once she was sure her friend's nerves had settled. "The most we're doing is breaking and entering. For a small fee, our part time job is to steal from the thieves and return the goods to the owner. If we're ever found out, that's what I'm going to tell them." She started the water, felt the steam erupt from within the shower-stall, and stepped in, glad to wash off the day's work. "I'll be mailing the photo proof, a note, and the painting, to the police station in the next town over, no return address. That's where it was taken from."

"You are a lot braver than I am, Ichigo. Still…I'd like to meet Kishu's partner, Pai. He seems so smart and mysterious…" Ichigo felt her friend's face blush madly from the hall, rolling her eyes at the girlishness of it.

'She deserves a boyfriend, though. I mean, it's only fair. Those two would click right away, I bet.' She continued to think to herself while the water poured over her from the shower head, loosening her tight muscles. 'That Kishu… Why does he test me like that? It makes me want to toy with his head more…' Unknowingly, she'd begun to blush as well.

"No matter, it's all in a day's work. We'll start our new full-time jobs tomorrow, though. I've been assigned a position as a policeman at the local department, and you get to work the computers there. We'll be on the inside, Retasu! Can't you feel the excitement?"

Her friend wasn't as enthused by the idea and laughed nervously, still blushing. "Pai will be working in the same department… I can't wait!" She sighed and just like that the two fell into yet another normal day. Life was good, though they knew, as with everything in life, there were lots of obstacles awaiting them.


	2. Chapter 2

**!KISHU!**

It was still too early for him to be up and getting a shower, he decided as he let the anxiety of the night before wash away, down the drain. "It was bad enough that she unarmed me like that, but then I was found by one of my teammates! I swear he was laughing at me when I told him a girl took me down." He groaned and stepped out of the shower, wrapping the fluffy white towel around his waist.

"You seem pretty angry. I guess your date walked out on you." Taruto, always the deviant, sat at the table over a bowl of cereal, the spoon in his hand. He was the youngest on the police staff at fifteen, but he was excellent with undercover operations. "She literally dropped you like a poisonous snake, huh?"

He would have continued Kishu knew if Pai hadn't been there to shoot Taruto a reprimanding glance. Kishu was thankful for it, but knew Pai was laughing on the inside as well. "You're letting her mess with your head, Kishu. You need to start thinking a step ahead of her, to catch her. Play her game but come out on top. She won't expect it." Being older, Pai knew a lot more than they did, and was thus appointed to the field of computers in the police station, usually consulting the other officers on how to crack a case. The brain-boy, as he was sometimes called, sat across from Taruto at the table, sipping his dark coffee and poking at his wheat toast with little interest.

"I'll consider it. We have to wait until she's active again. She might lay low for a while, but then again I can never get inside her head. She may decide to strike again, get cocky." He thought that over and sighed. "I still can't believe she took my gun-MY gun!" That gun was like his baby. It was yet another blow to his pride, and he was tallying up the score, intending to pay her back tenfold.

"Don't get too cocky yourself, Kishu. You may end up falling for her." Taruto inched back when Kishu shot him a deathly glare. "Kidding kidding…"

"I don't have time to waste. I have to be in early to give my report and meet this new officer. She'll be my new partner, now that Ryou was transferred to homicide." He slipped his black jacket on over his grey button up shirt and black tie, and was out the door before the others could say anything else. This was going to be a very long and trying day for him, and he gritted his teeth against it, and against the gush of chilly fall air that hit him suddenly. He hated the cold, but it kept him sharp, so he dealt with it long enough to make it to the station.

Once he'd arrived at the large grey building, he strode through the doors like he usually did, like he belonged there, and his teammates respected him for it. However, instead of heading towards the break room for his usual cup of coffee, he simply passed it by and went straight for his office, sitting down to type. The anger had left him by then, and as he typed up the report, he simply felt the overwhelming exhaustion from the night before. He'd been so close both nights, had been close enough to touch her, but she'd slipped like water through his fingers, like always.

He typed quickly, and in a half an hour he'd gotten the report printed and stapled twice, in order to keep one on record and give the other to the chief. Standing quickly, he was about to open the door to his office and step out when the chief came walking to him. "I have the report from last night. I was about to give it to you."

The chief was a large man, built like a tank, with dark skin and sharp dark eyes, his sixty or so years barely showing there. His salt and pepper hair had begun to thin some, but he never lost his edge, the power that made others respect and revere him as both a leader and a friend. He was dressed in his usual black slacks and blue policeman's shirt, his badge on the belt at his him. He was the face, the power, behind the station. He held out his hand, producing a cup of hot rich coffee for Kishu.

The detective happily traded the report for the coffee and watched as the chief scanned the papers with a fine tooth comb, which took all but five or so minutes, maybe less. Unlike Pai and Taruto, this man understood his burning drive to capture the woman that had caused such uproar in the news. "Good work, detective. You've almost got her." A warm look came to his eyes and he slipped the documents under his arm, patting Kishu's shoulder with the other. "Come on, the new recruits are waiting in my office."

He nodded and followed, relishing the coffee as they walked on past the early morning boom of sights, sounds, and smells that made up the station. The chief's office was average, like the other offices, and the only thing determining the difference was the white letters on the glass window of the door that read 'CHIEF'. He was a modest man, and beyond the cold hard officer was a family man who endowed his office with personal belongings like pictures of his family, of his large German shepherd, and the catcher's mitt from some famous baseball player, autographed.

His desk, like Kishu's, was directly across from the door, an old wooden object, a decade or so old. On it was the organized clutter of a man who thought quickly and deliberately. The two worn out visitor chairs faced the desk in an arch, almost a triangle, and two petite bodies sat upon the teal cushions that had begun to rip and expose the spongy insides over the years.

One was shy, her soft light green bangs and large thin rimmed glasses partially obscuring her large soft blue-grey eyes and small face. Her braid was over her shoulder, and she held a cup of hot fresh coffee in her hands, sweetened with cream and sugar. She wore simple clothes; khaki slacks that showed off her thin legs beneath, an earthy green turtleneck with long sleeves, and a necklace with a smoothed and polished sea-green seashell on the end of the leather strip. She was simple and easy to get along with, very sweet but very smart and shy. She reminded him of Pai.

The other, to his amazement, was nearly the polar opposite with naturally crimson bangs framing her fair skinned face, amplifying the sharpness in her deep caramel eyes and soft lips. Those lips were set in a firm and confident smile, and her eyes reflected it. She was obviously his partner, while the other girl was the tech-savvy computer girl who would be working with Pai.

He saw that the red-haired girl wore a sleek black short sleeved shirt with a slight v-neck. It exposed her lean but thin pale arms and small but nimble hands, which lacked paint and polish. She'd crossed one thin leg over the other in a feminine style, and even the leanness of her legs, enclosed in thin grey slacks, exuded the confidence she carried with her that morning. To finalize the appearance, she wore black shiny boots, though they appeared quite sturdy and without a heel.

"This young lady is Midorikawa Retasu, and she will be working with Pai as a computer tech." The chief's voice cut through his concentrated evaluation of the redhead and he nodded to Retasu with a small smile and warm eyes.

"It's nice to meet you. I look forward to you working with us." He held out his hand to her and she shook it with a happy smile. Retracting it to his side again, he waited for the chief to introduce the other girl.

"The young lady right here is your new partner. Detective Tokohiro Kishu, this is Lieutenant Momomiya Ichigo. She was transferred here from another station." The chief had caught on to Kishu's evaluation and smiled at him knowingly. "I paired you two up on purpose. You both are strong and relentless, which will prove to be a good thing here."

Before Kishu could raise his hand to greet her, she extended her own with a confident smile. It made her eyes glow brightly and he had no other choice but to take that soft hand in his own, noting the contrast, and shake it. "Detective, let's work well together, and its' nice to meet you." She had a firm grip, he knew, and he felt his heart flutter some.

The trills of recollection began shooting through his mind, but he couldn't place the feeling that he'd met her before. "It's nice to meet you. Have we met before?" His voice was polite, as if it were a normal question.

Before answering, he could have sworn he saw a spark flash through the depths of her dark eyes. Nonetheless, she smiled and replied in her musical voice. "No, I don't believe we've ever met before. I would have remembered your face."

He didn't ask any more questions and allowed his hand to fall to his side again, unaware of just how close he'd gotten to the object of his obsession.


	3. Chapter 3

**ICHIGO**

By the time they'd left the chief's office, Ichigo had begun to perform a happy dance inside her head. It took all she had to hide the broad grin behind a schooled expression of calm. "It's a lot busier here than the last station I worked for." She made a subtle show of examining everything, as if she were still new to the force, still green. She wasn't, she knew, but she wouldn't tell him that. It would lead him to suspect her, in the future.

Retasu was walking beside her, blushing a bit as they neared the tech division, where Pai sat at a computer, typing away. Among the bustle of noise and movement, he sat stoically in his computer chair, his amethyst eyes never leaving the screen. He reminded Retasu of a tranquil island, though he reminded Ichigo of a monotonous statue.

"Pai, I brought your new partner to watch you work. It's her first day here, so be nice, alright?" Ichigo watched as Kishu grinned and leaned over Pai's shoulder, examining the data on the screen. "I never WAS good at computer work."

Cutting his gaze to Kishu, which made the green haired man step back a bit, Pai turned in his chair, to face the group. "Midorikawa Retasu and Momomiya Ichigo, I take it?" He nodded as a show of greeting to both of them and raised his eyebrow questioningly when Retasu's face turned a beat red.

"She gets like this around new people. She's really sweet and really smart." Giving her friend a gentle, not-so-subtle, nudge forward, Ichigo smiled and stepped back beside Kishu, by the door.

However, when Pai's eyes went from Retasu to Ichigo, the redhead froze, a cold sweat threatening her forehead. He knew more than she thought. Kishu might have been clueless about it, but the way his eyes met hers, she knew Pai had figured it out. She smiled, or tried to, at least, and watched as his gaze flitted back to Retasu. They'd begun to discuss computers, which she knew nothing about.

'No,' she thought with a shake of her head, once they were outside the tech lab. 'No, he won't tell. If he was the type to tell, he would have told Kishu already. They're roommates, right? Retasu saw his eyes, too. Hopefully she can get him to keep quiet. I can't afford to be caught, not when I'm this far in.' She bit her lip and glanced up from the floor when she noticed they'd stopped at yet another glass door.

This time the white letters on the door read 'Tokohiro Kishu – Investigator' in large font. Looking through the door and into the office, she noticed the weathered wooden desk, a clutter of paperwork and folders, as well as the two beat up visitor chairs in front of it. The room was lacking in a sense. It had no personal touches, no coffee mugs, and no pictures, save a glass framed photo of himself, Pai, and Taruto. She nodded thoughtfully and stepped through the threshold, examining the room with a keen eye.

"Well, this is home sweet home a lot of times." Kishu shrugged and she could see his eyes dancing happily as he admired his-their-office. "I guess I can start you off filing paperwork. I don't have any easy cases yet. Right now my hands are tied up with the Shadow Thief Case." Again his eyes sparkled, the challenge showing itself. "I'll get her soon – I'm THIS close!" Little did he realize just who he was talking to, and again she was grateful for his denseness.

"I heard about that case. She's a pretty cool thief, though." Ichigo shrugged, as if she were making casual conversation, and smiled, her eyes lighting up as she rested against the desk, one ankle crossed over the other nonchalantly. "I heard everything she stole was ALREADY stolen. There have been reports that the items in question were returned to their original owners, with notes and photo proof. The original thieves were arrested. Isn't she a Robin Hood, and not a thief, then?"

He'd never thought of it that way, she knew, and a flicker of triumph crossed her eyes as she watched him pace the room, sinking his teeth into her words. "I suppose…but it's still theft, still breaking and entering… Besides that, she gave me a challenge when I met her. It's like a huge game of cat and mouse, and I'm determined to win. I'll bring her in and finally get to question her! I want to pick her brain."

She was about to say something else, making more conversation, but stopped when she saw him pause abruptly in his pacing. He turned to her, his golden eyes wide and curious behind his forest green bangs. His arms, which had been crossed across his chest as he'd paced, now hung limp at his sides. When he spoke, his voice held question, amazement. "How do you know so much about this?" There was that dreaded underlying suspicion.

In an effort to prove her innocent, she schooled her face to become shocked, as if she didn't know why he was so suspicious. "I did a lot of studying up on the case. Besides that, she delivered an item and proof to the last station I worked at. I saw it with my own two eyes. It couldn't have been staged." She silently applauded herself for her A+ performance, and awaited his response.

"Oh…" was all he muttered as he studied her face more closely. "You know, you sort of remind me of her. You've got the same deep eyes. You couldn't be her, though. She has violet eyes, not caramel." He smiled; trying to convince him that there was no way the two could be linked. "Anyways, Momomiya, I think you can handle the Shadow Thief Case. You seem to know how she thinks, which will be good for tracking her."

The sureness in his voice made her smile, and she straightened. "I'd be glad to, Mi-Detective." She quickly covered up her mistake. "We heard a lot about you, where I used to work. They said they needed someone like you there. It's a smaller station, so not a lot of good detectives." She silently cursed herself for nearly calling him 'Mister Detective'.

Kishu didn't seem to notice her slip-up as he smiled. "If I wasn't so baffled by my case here, I'd stop on by and help them out." He'd begun to drink his coffee now, cursing the fact that it had become lukewarm and was no longer scalding, which he needed to wake him up that morning.


End file.
